This invention relates generally to apparatus for producing tufted textile goods such as carpet, upholstery, and the like, and more particularly to improved tufting apparatus capable of producing patterned tufted goods.
U. S. Pat. No. 4,549,496 which issued October 29, 1985, to Kile discloses highly advantageous tufting apparatus for producing patterned tufted goods using yarns of different colors or different textures. This apparatus is capable of placing yarn into a backing to create patterns and designs which previously were generally available only from a weaving loom or by using printing techniques. The patented apparatus employs multiple heads spaced across the width of a backing material. Each head comprises a reciprocating backing opener tube for penetrating the backing and for implanting yarn tufts in the backing by feeding yarn through the tube pneumatically. The backing opener is connected to a yarn exchanger into which a plurality of yarns of different colors, for example, are supplied, and a mechanism is included which enables the selection of one or more of the yarns for implantation into the backing for each penetration by the backing opener. The multiple heads are stepped in synchronism across the backing for a distance corresponding to the spacing between the heads in order to implant a transverse row of yarn tufts. The backing is then advanced to the position of the next row and the process is repeated to implant the next row. A computer controls the selection of the yarn implanted by each backing opener for each penetration of the backing in order to produce a desired pattern in the finished goods.
Although the patented apparatus represents a significant advancement in the tufting industry in that it has enabled the production of multicolored and patterned tufted goods at a substantially reduced cost and in a substantially shorter period of time than is possible with conventional weaving looms, it is desirable to improve tufting apparatus embodying the patented invention to reduce costs and further increase production speed. One area in which improved efficiency is desired in practical apparatus embodying the patented invention is in the mechanism which cuts the yarn after it has been implanted into the backing. The Kile patent discloses, and practical apparatus have embodied, a motor-driven rotary cutter associated with each tufting head for cutting the yarn after it has been implanted in the backing. The rotary cutter is positioned on the opposite side of the backing from the head and moves transversely across the backing with the head. At each penetration of the backing, yarn is ejected from the backing opener by the air flowing through the backing opener tube and into the path of a rotating cutter blade which cuts the yarn. This arrangement results in a fair amount of yarn waste. Moveover, since it is necessary to provide clearance between the rotating cutter blade and the backing opener, there is a limit as to how close the rotating cutter can be placed safely to the underside of the backing. As a result, the pile height of the yarn tufts implanted in the backing may be greater than desired and the amount of yarn trimmed during a subsequent finishing operation further contributes to the waste.
A significant factor influencing the production speed of practical apparatus embodying the invention of the Kile patent is the number of tufting heads embodied in the apparatus. The greater the number of heads, the less distance each head must traverse and, accordingly, the faster a row of tufts can be implanted in the backing. As the number of heads increases, however, other problems arise. The increased weight makes it more difficult to move the heads accurately and to maintain their alignment and positions relative to one another.
It is desirable to provide tufting apparatus which avoid the foregoing problems and which afford further improvements in tufting apparatus of the type disclosed in the Kile patent, and it is to these ends that the present invention is directed.